Ascending to the Heavens in a Single Step

Gu Mingchao was in secluded cultivation, determined not to emerge until he succeeded. Unless the Vast Heaven Sect encountered something it truly could not resolve without him, he would never come out.

Even when the Vast Heaven Sect's great bell had rung nine times before, Gu Mingchao had paid it no mind.

But today, Gu Mingchao had emerged!

The Haotian Sword Casket had stirred not only the Grand Elder's Soul-Extinguishing Sword, but Gu Mingchao's Heaven-Supporting Sword as well.

Gu Mingchao knew that only the legendary Haotian Sword Casket in the entire Vast Heaven Sect could make divine swords bow in submission.

Yet even though he had prepared himself, Gu Mingchao was still shocked by what he saw through the Haotian Mirror in the Spirit Tomb.

The legendary Haotian Sword Casket, which even Great Emperor Haotian had been unable to subdue, had actually chosen a master today. And that master was no peerless expert, but a disciple who had only just joined the sect.

After all, only newly inducted disciples could enter the Spirit Tomb.

But Gu Mingchao soon noticed something amiss.

The disciple who had obtained the Haotian Sword Casket was wearing clothes reserved for core disciples!

So... he was a core disciple?

But Gu Mingchao remembered that, although there were a few outstanding individuals among this batch of disciples entering the Vast Heaven Sect, they had only become reserve elite disciples at most. When had a core disciple appeared among them?

Core disciples were different from elite disciples. The elders of the various palaces could appoint elite disciples directly, but only two people in the entire Vast Heaven Sect had the authority to make someone a core disciple: Gu Mingchao himself and the Grand Elder.

Gu Mingchao immediately turned his gaze to the Grand Elder, wanting to know just what had happened during his secluded cultivation.

"Congratulations on emerging from seclusion, Sect Master..." Seeing Gu Mingchao's somewhat bewildered expression, how could the Grand Elder not know what he was thinking? And as he looked at Chu Xinghe in the Haotian Mirror, his face was full of pride.

The Grand Elder then reported everything that had happened in recent days to the sect master, leaving nothing out.

He began with the nine tolls of the great bell, Chu Xinghe willingly taking the blame for someone from his hometown, and the Vermilion Bird Spirit Fire reappearing in Vermilion Bird Hall after four hundred years.

Then came the Vermilion Bird Furnace setting fire to the Medicine King Palace, the Vermilion Bird revealing its sentience and the Medicine Saint's inheritance, and now the Haotian Sword Casket choosing a master in the Spirit Tomb.

After hearing the Grand Elder out, Gu Mingchao felt his head buzzing. Had so much really happened in the sect during the short time he had been in seclusion?

A disciple so defiant of the heavens had appeared?

What Gu Mingchao found even harder to believe was that, while it was understandable for the Grand Elder to praise Chu Xinghe to the heavens when he was a disciple of the Grand Elder's Spirit Crane Palace, the other elders also began praising him once the Grand Elder had finished.

From the other elders, Gu Mingchao gained an even deeper understanding of Chu Xinghe.

His talent was unparalleled. He possessed the Vermilion Bird Spirit Fire, had obtained the Medicine Saint's inheritance, and had now acquired the Haotian Sword Casket. Yet aside from his talent, the elders had unanimously recognized the boy's character and disposition.

The Vast Heaven Sect had never lacked heaven's favored children, but a disciple who had earned the approval of nearly every elder was truly a first for the sect.

Gu Mingchao was suddenly filled with interest in Chu Xinghe. Just what sort of youngster was he?

In the Spirit Tomb, the instant the Haotian Sword Casket fused with Chu Xinghe's body, the shackles that had long held him at First-Rank Martial Artist were finally broken. His spiritual power surged, and he successfully entered the Second-Rank Martial Master realm. Only upon reaching this step could he be said to have truly set foot on the path of cultivation.

Chu Xinghe was not the only one to reach the second rank. All the disciples who had trusted him and chosen spirit weapons here had not only fused their souls with their weapons, but also broken through during their enlightenment, reaching the second rank in one stroke!

"Senior Brother Xinghe, I, Wan Lin, will never forget your kindness!" Wan Lin's chest heaved with excitement as she bowed ninety degrees to Chu Xinghe.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, we will never forget your kindness!" Behind Wan Lin, more disciples who had awakened also saluted Chu Xinghe, gratitude written all over their faces.

Faced with so much gratitude, Chu Xinghe did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Actually... I only wanted to trick you all...

Who the hell could have guessed that tricking you would bring out the Haotian Sword Casket...?

He had originally thought that if he tricked so many disciples at once, they would surely raise the roof when they realized what had happened. If the uproar reached the sect master, with so many disciples tricked by him, even the Grand Elder probably would not be able to protect him.

Even if he was not expelled from the sect, a severe punishment would be unavoidable.

But now, the Haotian Sword Casket had come out of the scheme, and because it had bestowed blessings on everyone, the people who should have been tricked had become the greatest beneficiaries this time.

Still, now that he thought about it, he was fairly satisfied to have obtained the Haotian Sword Casket.

"Senior Brother Xinghe, please help the rest of us..." someone else said. These were the people he had failed to fool just now.

They had hesitated and failed to choose spirit weapons here, so naturally they had been left out when the Haotian Sword Casket chose its master and bestowed its blessings.

They had only intended to wait and see, but that decision had cost them an enormous opportunity. Every one of them was now regretting it bitterly.

"Hmph! You people still have the nerve to ask? Senior Brother Xinghe showed us the way and opened up such an opportunity for us, yet you suspected him of ulterior motives. Now that you've brought this humiliation on yourselves, you still dare ask him for help?"

Wan Lin could not stand it anymore. Senior Brother Xinghe had created an opportunity for everyone, and these people had missed it themselves, yet they were still pleading with him? They had truly thrown all shame away!

In fact, Wan Lin had also suspected at first that Senior Brother Xinghe might have ulterior motives, but the outcome had now made everything clear.

Besides, when they were choosing their spirit weapons, Senior Brother Xinghe had not even known the Haotian Sword Casket existed. He had gone to choose an ordinary spirit weapon just like everyone else. It was simply that everything he had done had moved the Haotian Sword Casket, and it had chosen him as its master. Yet these people had still distrusted Senior Brother Xinghe when he had done so much for everyone. Wan Lin wanted to give each of them a resounding slap across the face.

At this point, those who had not obtained spirit weapons were filled with regret.

Why didn't I believe Senior Brother Xinghe...? The entire sect knows what kind of person he is. If I had only chosen to trust him, I would certainly have a spirit weapon fused with my soul now!

They also knew there was no medicine for regret in this world. At this moment, they could only swear silently that, from now on, wherever Senior Brother Xinghe pointed, they would strike, and they would never dare doubt him in the slightest again!

"Junior brothers, the blessings bestowed by the Haotian Sword Casket were not something I could control. Now that things have come to this, all I can do is apologize to everyone. But there is still some time left, so you can continue onward and look for spirit weapons to your liking. I'll say it again: the path of cultivation is full of thorns. We may have hesitated, but I believe we have never retreated!"

As soon as Chu Xinghe finished speaking, a burst of enthusiastic applause rang out around him.

Wan Lin's eyes filled with tears.

Listen to him! This is what true attainment looks like. Senior Brother Xinghe's attainment has long surpassed ours. Even toward those who doubted and distrusted him, he bears no resentment whatsoever. At a time like this, he's even willing to show them the way. He's simply a peerless senior brother!

Though countless people who had failed to obtain spirit weapons were filled with regret, they still set off to continue their search.

Chu Xinghe had pointed them down the right path. Perhaps it would be of some help to them.

When Chu Xinghe and the group of disciples who had obtained spirit weapons emerged from the Spirit Tomb in high spirits, the many elders of the Vast Heaven Sect, including Sect Master Gu Mingchao, were all standing by the entrance.

"This disciple pays respects to the sect master and the elders..."

Chu Xinghe led everyone in offering a disciple's salute to the group of important figures.

Gu Mingchao nodded slightly. "Rise..."

"Thank you, Sect Master..."

Once everyone had risen, Gu Mingchao and all the elders fixed their eyes on Chu Xinghe. This was especially true of Gu Mingchao. Of the three thousand disciples admitted to the Vast Heaven Sect, he remembered every one who was even slightly outstanding, but Chu Xinghe alone he truly did not remember at all.

Still, for someone to rise in such a short time, Gu Mingchao believed they must have overlooked him back then.

"Chu Xinghe's acquisition of the Haotian Sword Casket shows that heaven blesses Vast Heaven!" The Grand Elder's face was beaming like a chrysanthemum.

"Heaven blesses Vast Heaven!" the other elders declared together.

"Xinghe, take out your Haotian Sword Casket and let us have a look." The Grand Elder walked up to Chu Xinghe, his face full of pride.

"Yes..."

Chu Xinghe said no more. He circulated his spiritual power, and a streak of white light shot from his left arm, transforming into the Haotian Sword Casket as it hovered in midair before him.

"Flying Locust!"

At a thought from Chu Xinghe, a beam of yellow light flew out of the sword casket. Flying Locust swiftly appeared before him. It was not shaped like an ordinary sword, but like an oval stone. As it flew, however, sword light formed over its surface of its own accord. This was Flying Locust, the first of the nine swords in the Haotian Sword Casket!

It was also the only one Chu Xinghe could currently use.

Yet the moment Flying Locust appeared, everyone present, including Gu Mingchao, changed expression.

"A flying sword! That's a flying sword from the legends!"

Everyone stared in disbelief at Flying Locust as it moved according to Chu Xinghe's thoughts.

Flying swords were things that existed only in legends, capable of pursuing a soul with a single strike from a thousand li away!

By now, only legends of flying swords remained in the world.

The Vast Heaven Sect had ten great divine swords, the foremost of which was the Heaven-Supporting Sword in the sect master's hands. Yet even with the Heaven-Supporting Sword, the sect master could at most ride it for a short time.

But that was not an ability of the Heaven-Supporting Sword itself. Gu Mingchao's cultivation was simply so powerful that he could control the sword with his body. Even so, the Heaven-Supporting Sword could not stray very far from him. Flying Locust, however, was entirely different.

Flying Locust was a flying sword in the truest sense, and all nine swords in the Haotian Sword Casket were flying swords. Gu Mingchao scarcely dared imagine how terrifying it would be if, one day, Chu Xinghe truly mastered the Haotian Sword Casket and sent all nine swords out with a single thought.

The tenth-generation Great Emperor Haotian had unquestionably been the strongest existence in the Vast Heaven Sect's long history, yet even he had been unable to subdue the Haotian Sword Casket back then. Now, the Haotian Sword Casket had actually chosen Chu Xinghe as its master. Perhaps this was heaven's will at work in the unseen.

"Xinghe, although our Vast Heaven Sect has no flying sword technique, I have spent half my life studying the way of the sword. Would you be willing to become my personal disciple and learn swordsmanship from me?"

Gu Mingchao had spoken, and his words plunged the scene into deathly silence.

The sect master...

Wanted to take Chu Xinghe as his personal disciple?

Ascending to the heavens in a single step!